Blog Post #16 - Our Month In Hawaii

Like I mentioned previously, our sponsor invited us out to Hawaii to spend some time with him and a few members of the team that also live there. It sounded like a great opportunity so on September 22 my wife and I along with our two little girls (1 and 3 years old) jumped on an airplane and headed to the Big Island of Hawaii.

On our way to Hawaii!

Craig and KT (another team member) were waiting to pick us up at the airport. We grabbed a late dinner and then hit the sack.

We awoke the next day and realized how lucky we were. The place Craig was letting us use was AMAZING! (Side note: In addition to doing network marketing, Craig is also a real estate developer. He recently purchased several acres of Hawaiian jungle, paid to have it cleared and leveled, and is now sub dividing the land and building upscale houses on it.) The house we were staying in was brand new, huge, had upscale appliances, and was in the prettiest location you can imagine. On top of loaning the house to us he also loaned us one of his Mercedes SUV's so that we could explore the island and have some fun with the kids while we were in town. In a nutshell, the amenities were absolutely amazing and made our stay there extremely comfortable.

Our amenities in Hawaii

Throughout the next 4 weeks, Craig and I did group meetings, met with people one on one, attended expos, visited inactive team members, etc etc etc.

Craig and Zack, fellow teammates!

We also had a lot of fun exploring the island and spending time with our ASEA teammates and with my wife and kids. Even when I was busy working with the team my family went to the beach or the zoo (there was a rainforest zoo a mile from our house) on an almost daily basis. You don't get sick of the beaches in Hawaii! The trip was such an amazing experience for my family and it was invaluable for me. Spending so much time with my sponsor really gave me a completely different perspective on the network marketing industry. Here are the two biggest things I learned from my sponsor that had the deepest impact on me:

1. Don't put up with crap. This is a serious business just like any other business. Even though it's more affordable to get involved, this is a real opportunity. If people can't see the giant opportunity in front of them then here's what you say: NEXT! Although I do treat my business very seriously I do sometimes get hung up on trying to defend the industry or the company to prospects that question it or insult it. Craig taught me that in 5 years those people will most likely be in the exact same place they are now because they don't want to change and/or they're not willing to work for an opportunity. They'd prefer to sit around and complain about their problems instead of look for solutions. Our job as Independent Associates is to just simply get the word out and let people decide if they want to take advantage. If they do, awesome! We help them, train them, and support them. If they don't....NEXT! Don't waste time trying to convince the negative/wrong people.

2. You have to see the bigger picture. I haven't heard Craig explicitly teach this concept but his overall attitude about everything illustrates this perfectly. I was constantly reminded of this throughout the month. I mentioned before that Craig is a real estate developer and is currently working on a project where he is sub-dividing acreage and building houses to sell. Let me just reiterate something about that: BEFORE HE TOUCHED IT THAT WHOLE AREA WAS HAWAIIAN JUNGLE! It's about 10 minutes outside of the town of Hilo and was literally a very dense rainforest. He went to this area where you can't see farther then a foot in front of you and saw a vision for what it could become. He envisioned flat land, mowed grass, beautiful houses, amazing landscaping, paved roads, etc. out of nothing....and then he went to work. He paid someone to clear the area and level the ground. Then he contracted builders to start digging the holes and building the houses. Then he hired a landscape company to pretty up the area. Finally he enlisted realtors to find buyers for the houses. When I was there we were staying in the first finished house, the second house had just been put on the market, and the 3rd house was underway with the foundation having already been poured. His vision was coming to fruition! As I listened to Craig talk about his real estate endeavors I realized that he treats his network marketing business the exact same way! When he got involved with ASEA he envisioned a small group of people becoming a global enterprise and sharing these products with people from all corners of the Earth. That's exactly what happened!
Every time I whine that my business isn't growing fast enough he calmly reminds me that a legacy isn't build in just a few months. That first while is spent planting seeds that will one day produce fruit. Right now we're still building that foundation but you can't forget the bigger vision. Create the vision, believe you can do it, and then go make it happen.

All in all, the Hawaii trip turned out to be a terrific experience for me and my family. I learned a ton, my wife and kids got the vacation of their life, and I believe the team as a whole grew because of it. I am continually amazed by the opportunities this industry offers and I can't wait to see what the future holds.

Celebrating Amie's birthday at Pond's Restaurant in Hilo!

Hapuna Beach!